The Mental Status Exam (MSE) is a systematic way of describing a patient's mental state at the time you were doing a psychiatric assessment. An observant clinician can do a comprehensive mental status exam that helps guide them towards a diagnosis.
ASEPTIC
can be used to remember the components of the Mental Status Examination.[1]
A
- Appearance/BehaviourS
- SpeechE
- Emotion (Mood and Affect)P
- Perception (Auditory/Visual Hallucinations)T
- Thought Content (Suicidal/Homicidal Ideation) and ProcessI
- Insight and JudgementC
- Cognition